


Camouflage

by Quinn222



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-02
Updated: 2012-01-02
Packaged: 2017-10-28 18:33:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/310898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quinn222/pseuds/Quinn222
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Character study: Derek Morgan is not stupid, Spencer Reid is an excellent actor.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Camouflage

Derek wasn't stupid, nor was he blind. It hadn't taken him long to figure out that Spencer Reid, Doctor Spencer Reid, was a gifted actor. It had taken him longer though to figure out exactly the purpose of his sometimes elaborate performance. For a long time (and, if he was honest about it, even to the present) he wasn't entirely sure that Reid himself was consciously choosing when and how to put on his act.

Reid was tall, painfully thin, gangling and awkward with it. Except when he wasn't. Sometimes he ran as though he'd never actually run before. Derek might have said he ran like a girl, except Derek knew at least six women, including his own mother, who would bash him with a stiletto if he ever actually expressed such a thought out loud. He wouldn't put it past Garcia to know that he was thinking it even if he didn't say it. She wouldn't bash him though. She'd just destroy his credit rating. But there were times, always when in the field, when Reid ran with grace, speed and athleticism. He could move through a scene with stealth on silent feet, never making a sound, yet he sometimes had trouble moving through a police station or sheriff's office without knocking files off desks or bumping into chairs.

Sometimes when Reid spoke Derek had no trouble picturing the frighteningly brilliant four year old that he had been. He'd rush, his words nearly tripping over themselves, seemingly unable to keep up with his brain. He'd ramble, spewing facts and information in a stream of conscious no one could hope to keep up with. Often he'd stutter to a halt, embarrassed, realizing he was being inappropriate or confusing. He'd blush, dip his head, maybe turn back to the case board and make a note. Confronted with an unsub, a victim, a defense attorney or even a panel of confrontational senators however and he was clear, articulate and piercingly direct.

Morgan wasn't sure when Reid had developed what Morgan had come to think of as his 'awkward professor' role. He'd had it pretty well perfected by the age of 21, which was when Morgan had met him. Morgan's theory was that it was in many ways a defense mechanism. A way to deflect. 'Don't look too closely at me, don't pay too much attention to me, don't touch me. I'm just the harmless kid over here not doing anyone any harm.' it must have come in handy for a kid who sometimes wanted to be invisible. Invisible to bullies, invisible to anyone who might look too closely at the living situation of a very young child with no responsible caretaker at home. Invisible to an unsub so busy trying to outwit and deflect the often imposing members of the BAU that they never saw the true danger coming until Reid took them down. Suddenly not awkward, not shy, not invisible.

Knowing all he knew of Reid and his coping mechanisms, his shields, his persona, Morgan should have been prepared. Should have been aware that when he finally got Reid into his bed that he wouldn't be a shy, awkward, kid, but a strong, graceful, sexual man.


End file.
